MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Advice for Ethical Requests of Amazon Reviews?

gmw · 07-15-2015, 10:30 AM

Aaron, some people run blogs where they accept requests from authors and publishers. An example list of such blogs can be found here: http://www.tinahunter.ca/links/ebook-reviewers/

The idea is that you should visit each blog yourself, first, and see what sort of thing they review and whether your work matches what they're looking for. You must also check their review policy - most will have a page stating whether they are currently accepting requests and what they expect to receive. Some of these people will also place their reviews on places like Amazon and/or Goodreads.

I didn't have much luck with it when I tried last. I think my first novel was a bit on the long side and the early (preview visible) chapters are perhaps not as enticing as they could be.

It is what it is, and that was my choice.

If you hunt around you should be able to find others as well. The important thing is to try and make certain you are sending people what they are willing to receive or you will get reactions like those eloquently described by Dr Drib.

Other than that, you are really stuck with making graceful requests in obvious places like Facebook (if you have a page, I don't), your own website/blog (I have one of these but requests for reviews would be pretty pointless because it appears to be mainly visited by spammers), and so on.

You may also like to read what I wrote about marketing, and the quote from Hugh Howey, in this recent post.

ETA: Those review blogs noted above will be expecting a free copy of the book - but this isn't to suggest they will necessarily give you a good review.

07-15-2015, 10:30 AM	#3
gmw cacoethes scribendi Posts: 5,818 Karma: 137770742 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Aura One & H2Ov2, Sony PRS-650	Aaron, some people run blogs where they accept requests from authors and publishers. An example list of such blogs can be found here: http://www.tinahunter.ca/links/ebook-reviewers/ The idea is that you should visit each blog yourself, first, and see what sort of thing they review and whether your work matches what they're looking for. You must also check their review policy - most will have a page stating whether they are currently accepting requests and what they expect to receive. Some of these people will also place their reviews on places like Amazon and/or Goodreads. I didn't have much luck with it when I tried last. I think my first novel was a bit on the long side and the early (preview visible) chapters are perhaps not as enticing as they could be. It is what it is, and that was my choice. If you hunt around you should be able to find others as well. The important thing is to try and make certain you are sending people what they are willing to receive or you will get reactions like those eloquently described by Dr Drib. Other than that, you are really stuck with making graceful requests in obvious places like Facebook (if you have a page, I don't), your own website/blog (I have one of these but requests for reviews would be pretty pointless because it appears to be mainly visited by spammers), and so on. You may also like to read what I wrote about marketing, and the quote from Hugh Howey, in this recent post. ETA: Those review blogs noted above will be expecting a free copy of the book - but this isn't to suggest they will necessarily give you a good review. Last edited by gmw; 07-15-2015 at 10:36 AM.